Tournament Reached Peak of Nearly Half A Million Concurrent Viewers Across the Globe

Intel® Extreme Masters made its third stop to the Bay Area this weekend with IEM Oakland, filling the Oracle Arena with 6,500 esports fans on both November 19th and 20th. Attendees from around the world cheered on as Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) climbed their way through the tournament bracket, defeating the world’s top rated Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster and ESL One Cologne champions, SK Gaming. Soon after the confetti flew for NiP, Unicorns of Love claimed the League of Legends IEM Oakland championship title once successfully taking down favored teams, such as Team SoloMid and Flash Wolves, in the second upset of the weekend.

With streams in 14 languages, IEM Oakland reached a peak of 490,000 concurrent viewers across the globe. Online viewers of the broadcast consumed close to 6.4 million hours of content throughout the event, with 130,000 more unique viewers tuning into the tournament in virtual reality. SLIVER.tv powered the VR livestream of IEM Oakland, which for included real-time augmented live stats the first time ever.

On November 19th, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley extended their 124-year-old football rivalry to League of Legends at IEM Oakland. Students from Stanford and Cal battled on stage at the Oracle Arena Big Game, with Stanford winning both on the football field and Summoner’s Rift.

The CS:GO side of the stage also welcomed the world’s best women’s teams, as CLG Red and Intel Challenge 2016 champions Team Secret fought for a $10,000 prize for a charity of the winners’ choosing. CLG Red defeated their European rivals, Team Secret, and donated the prize to Online SOS, a non-profit organization that serves and supports those experiencing online harassment.

“We have put an amazing tournament in the Bay Area for a third year in a row and our continued success shows the tremendous potential of esports,” said Michal Blicharz, vice president of pro gaming at ESL. “Holding marquee events like IEM brings true fans together, both in person and online, to join in the excitement at a global scale. We look forward to enhancing these premiere experiences in future events for both players and fans.”

“Thank you to the thousands of energetic fans who joined us at Oracle Arena for IEM Oakland, and to the millions who followed the online livestreams,” said George Woo, esports marketing manager at Intel. “Intel Extreme Masters continues to be a fantastic showcase for Intel’s innovative gaming products that are the backbone of any esports experience. Congrats to the winners and we look forward to connecting with everyone at IEM Gyeonggi in December.”

After an exciting week of IEM in the United States, League of Legends and StarCraft II players and fans from across the globe will turn their attention to IEM Gyeonggi on December 16 - 18, 2016, marking the first IEM tournament in the country since Season 3. Tickets for IEM Gyeonggi are now available.